A feisty African American woman in a wheelchair stood between Trenton Mayor Tony Mack and serious civil disobedience yesterday when a small group attempted to push their way into his second-floor office.

Beverly Jarrett had a private meeting with Mack and no activists like Jim Carlucci, Elizabeth Yull, Dan Dodson or Dave Ponton had a chance of moving beyond Mack’s disabled gatekeeper.

“Don’t be pushing up on me,” Jarrett told Carlucci.

These next few words will be the only ones that support Mayor Mack so try not to blink.

Advertisement

Residents or any other persons do not have the right to bum rush the mayor’s office. Period. These are not Bastille days, although this latest city tempest stockpiled drama on a city veered toward destruction.

That takes care of the political correctness. Oh, how I wished that we had crashed like a wave into Mack’s office, onto the carpet, knocking Mack aide Anthony Roberts on his derriere.

While doomsdayers predict an end to this world as we know it in less than two weeks, Trenton lingers on the cusp of combustion as residents rightfully demand that Mack walk away from his position as city leader.

Mack faces a trial early next year after a grand jury indicted him on eight criminal charges.

The mayor holds a sliver of power despite calls for his immediate resignation from Gov. Chris Christie, leading Democrats, and members of the Fourth Estate.

Mack’s office felt third-worldly as a buffer of mayoral allies braced against a small battery of residents who had arrived for Mack’s weekly meeting with residents.

Security chief Robert “Chico” Mendez received a minor cut on his right hand but stood within a breath of Carlucci and Dodson. Ponton still pursues pounds of Mack flesh since his association with a failed effort to recall Mack.

Roberts, a Mack insider, stood on guard. Each time Roberts opened the door, outsiders could catch a glimpse of the mayor. On one occasion, Roberts fanned the door wide, a move that caught Mack off guard. Mack slipped out of view toward the far right wall.

He seemed part man and part mouse. Wee, sleek and cowering like Robert Burns’ mammal turned up in a sad political tale of desire, dreams and death by ignorance.

Mack danced the “Electric Slide” Monday night with residents at the city’s “Mayor’s Senior Gala.” Less than 24 hours later he pressed against a wall like Spider-Man, out of sight for a brief moment as Roberts touched a door shut.

The mayor made a late change of the rules for his weekly meeting by demanding that citizens see him for one-on-one sessions. That move materialized after Mack realized he had no legal recourse to ban news media from public meetings.

So, Mack, went behind closed doors.

Beverly had first dibs on the mayor as a group of about 10 people eventually moved toward the Mayor’s Conference Room. Mack aide Paul Harris skirmished with Carlucci in a short shouting match as guests circled a conference table.

A text message accurately predicted a police arrival. Three vehicles. Maybe four. Completely understandable when one remembers that people had attempted to push into Mack’s office. Anger had receded before Police Director Ralph Rivera, Jr. explained Mack’s new meeting laws.

Rivera explained he had arrived at city hall for another meeting but intervened on Mayor Mack’s behalf. Despite mounting pressures made worse by a bad run on crime including a spate of homicides, Rivera appeared cooler than most others involved in the morning joust.

Sgt. John Breece said guests could either meet Mack one-on-one or leave.

Decorum had been reached with help from police officers.

Any representation that life returned to normalcy would champion distortion.

Trenton has been disfigured by allegations of corruption, but yesterday offered a beautiful sight of people on the brink of having had enough.

— L.A. Parker is a Trentonian columnist. Reach him at laparker@trentonian.com.